Dirty Jobs: Someone's gotta clean up after humans, too

STURGIS, Mich. -- Some things just need to be dealt with. Human waste, for example.

Rosalie Currier

Some things just need to be dealt with.

Human waste, for example.

Fortunately there are people in every community who willingly make a living by cleaning up behind the rest of us.

Terry Smith of Sturgis, owner of Terry's Septic Service and Terry's Outhouse Rental, is one of them.

"The most common question I get is, 'Do you ever get used to that smell?'" Smith said. "I tell them, 'It smells like money.'"

Those hooked up to city sewers don't have to deal with septic tanks, but it's common in rural areas.

Septic tank sizes range from 800 to 1,500 gallons, Smith said. Solids either sink to the bottom or float to the top, so a pipe to the drain field is in the middle of the tank. Gray water flows into the drain field and becomes part of the groundwater.

Every three years, septic owners need to have their tank pumped, Smith said. Otherwise, gray water becomes black water, and when it enters the drain field, it creates a "bio-mat" that seals off the dirt so the ground won't absorb the water.

When pumping a septic tank, Smith scrapes the bottom with square shovel on a long pole to break up solids.

It's helpful if a homeowner has the tank located and the lid exposed, Smith said.

The other side of this dirty job is Terry's Outhouse Rentals. This time of year, Smith has about 175 portable toilets out and about.

Many of them are at contractor sites and cornfields, but he keeps about 15 for parties, weddings and other occasions.

"They are very clean and in top-notch conditions," Smith said.

Smith pumps the monthly rentals on a weekly basis. The special-occasion toilets are only out for a day or weekend.

Although in the past, septic tank services have spread the waste on specific fields, Smith no longer does. He takes it to the Three Rivers wastewater treatment plant.

State law now states that if company is with in a 15-mile radius of a plant, they have to take the waste there, Smith said.

And he finds it easier and more cost-effective than the hoops he has to jump through when spreading it on a field.

Besides the odor, there is another downside to Smith's job. For generations, kids have thought it amusing to tip an outhouse and, unfortunately, that hasn't changed, Smith said.

"When a full outhouse has been tipped over, stand back," he said.

So how does someone get into such a job?

Smith said he'd worked in middle management in the truck industry for years. Trying to please those above him and taking care of those under him wasn't easy.

"Middle management isn't a good place to be," he said.

Now he makes his own hours.

"I work seven days a week in the summer," Smith said. "But in the winter, I get some time off."